PARLIAMENT PROROGUED, AND DISSOLVED.
On the 10th of June his majesty closed the session by a speech from the throne, in which he informed the two houses of his intention of dissolving the present and calling a new parliament. In his speech the king said that he had as yet received no satisfactory answer from the court of Madrid, and that he was therefore under the necessity of continuing his preparations for war. He acknowledged their affectionate and unshaken loyalty to his person; their uniform and zealous regard for the true principles of the constitution; and their unremitting attention to the happiness and prosperity of his people. His majesty then dwelt upon the rapid increase of manufactures, commerce, and navigation; the security given to our most distant possessions; and the improvement of the public revenue. He added, after thus enumerating the salutary effects of their counsels:—“The loyalty and public spirit, the industry and enterprise of my subjects have well seconded your exertions. On their sense of the advantages which they at present experience, and their uniform attachment to my person and government, I rely for a continuance of that harmony and confidence, which must at all times afford the surest means of meeting the exigencies of war, or of cultivating with increasing benefit the blessing of peace.” On the next day parliament was dissolved by proclamation: it had existed seven sessions.
SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES WITH SPAIN.
The British government, desirous of avoiding hostilities, dispatched Mr. Fitzherbert to Madrid, with full powers to settle all disputes between the two nations. At first the Spanish court showed itself adverse to negociation, and applied to that of France for aid. The court of France, however, though willing to support the Bourbon compact, had lost the power, for the people, by whom it was now kept in awe, were averse at this time to a war with England. Unable to contend with the British arms alone, Spain was therefore compelled to comply with the demand of restitution and indemnification: on the 2nd of October a convention was signed at the Escurial, by which every point in dispute was conceded. The settlement at Nootka-Sound was restored; the free navigation and right of fishery in the Southern Pacific were confirmed to Britain; and a full liberty of trade and even of settlement was granted to all the north-west coasts of America, beyond the most northerly of the Spanish territories, though unaccompanied by any formal renunciation of their right of sovereignty. Both nations were equally restricted from attempting to form any settlement nearer to Cape Horn than the most southerly plantations already established by Spain. It was also agreed, that, in case of any future complaint, no violence should be committed, but recourse had to an amicable adjustment between the respective courts. This convention was generally applauded in England, though £3,000,000 had been expended in warlike preparations.
CONTINENTAL AFFAIRS.
Early in this year the Emperor Joseph of Austria died, and was succeeded by his brother Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany. On his death-bed, Joseph, who had during his life shown himself an ambition & warrior, recommended peace, and the first care of his successor was to free himself from the Turkish war. Under the mediation of England, Prussia, and Holland, negociations for peace were opened at Reichenbach, in Silesia, on the 4th of June, and a treaty of peace was settled on the status quo principle, that each party should retain what it possessed previous to the war, restoring all that it had conquered, and recovering all that it had lost. The Czarina of Russia was invited to be a party to this treaty, but she refused, and still carried on war with the Turks on the one side, and the Swedes on the other.
The congress at Reichenbach interfered likewise in the affairs of the Netherlands: England, Prussia, and Holland guaranteed to the Emperor Leopold all the possessions of the House of Austria in Flanders, Brabant, &c., on the condition that he acknowledged and re-established the ancient privileges and constitution of those provinces. On the accession of Leopold, and before the meeting at Reichenbach, or before any kind of measure was attempted, either diplomatically or otherwise, he had sent a memorial to the Netherlanders, in which he expressed sincere regret for the despotic proceedings of the Austrian government, and declared his anxiety to redress all grievances; at the same time vindicating his claim to the sovereignty, and announcing his resolution to maintain it with all his might. Although the Netherlanders had established their independence, there was still among them a strong loyal imperial party, and this address and the situation of Belgian affairs revived the spirits of these loyalists, and they soon began to declare themselves in favour of Leopold, and to wear the old cockade, instead of the new patriotic ribands. By degrees, great numbers of the populace, also, embraced their opinions, and the party soon acquired a very imposing force. Such was the situation of affairs when Leopold issued a second manifesto, after the meeting at Reichenbach, engaging himself, under an inaugural oath, and the guarantee of Great Britain, Prussia, and Holland, to govern the Belgic Netherlands according to the constitution that was in force under Maria Theresa, and offering an amnesty to all who should return to their duty before the 1st of November. The mediating powers notified to the Belgian states the approval of these terms, but that body, who had exercised sovereign authority ever since the revolt, were loth to relinquish it; and under these circumstances, Austrian troops entered their territory. Various engagements took place, but resistance was vain: the arms of the emperor were uniformly successful, and the people generally acknowledged the heir of their ancient rulers. The leading members of opposition now took refuge in flight, and in a convention, guaranteed by the defensive alliance and executed on the 10th of December, the constitution of Maria Theresa was restored to the Belgic provinces, with some additional rights and privileges.